Government will “stay sensitive” towards green concerns:PM

New Delhi: Amid a growing debate over environment and development, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday said his government will “stay sensitive” towards green concerns but maintained that the pace of development should not suffer in the process.

Observing that the environmental issues have “acquired a new urgency” in recent years, the Prime Minister emphasized the need to work with renewed energy to address green concerns.

“While we stay sensitive to environmental concerns, we will also strive to ensure that the pace of our development does not suffer in the process,” Singh said in the UPA government’s annual report presented to the people on Sunday.

“We need to work with renewed energy to address environmental concerns if we wish to make our growth processes sustainable and give our people a better quality of life,” he further said.

The Prime Minister also referred to various green steps taken by his government during the year 2010-11 which included the establishment of National Green Tribunal, sanctioning of Rs 2,500 crore under Mission Clean Ganga and launching of Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission.

“We will accelerate our efforts in sustaining our environment in the coming years. More specifically we will work sincerely to implement the National Action Plan on

Climate Change, including the eight national missions which are a part of the Plan,” Singh added.

According to the report, the Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change has considered all eight climate change related national missions.

The eight missions are the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission, National Water Mission, National Missions on Enhanced Energy Efficiency, Sustainable Habitat, and Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change, and the National Missions for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem, a Green India and Sustainable Agriculture.